<DIV><b>Nick Hornby…Giles Smith…Helen Fielding…Roddy Doyle…Irvine Welsh…Zadie Smith…Dave Eggers…Robert Harris…Melissa Bank…Patrick Marber…Colin Firth…John O'Farrell</b><p>Compiled by bestselling author Nick Hornby and featuring brand new stories from the hottest writers on both sides of the Atlantic, <b>Speaking with the Angel</b> is a fresh and funny collection that is sure to be the literary anthology of the year.<p> Here is a book that was inspired by a very special boy and a very special school. Some money from each copy of <b>Speaking with the Angel</b> sold will benefit autism education charities around the world, including The Treehouse School in London, where Nick's son Danny is a student, and the New York Child Learning Institute here in the States. This project is truly a labor of love for Hornby and the other writers involved, many of whom are Nick's friends.<p> These original first-person narratives come from the most exciting voices in fiction. Melissa Bank gives readers a glimpse into the mind of a modern New Yorker whose still-new relationship is a constant source of surprise in “The Wonder Spot.” In Zadie Smith's “I'm the Only One,” a young man recalls his strained relationship with his diva-esque sister. Dave Egger's “After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned,” is told from the viewpoint of an unfortunate pit bull. Helen Fielding offers up a new twist on I've fallen and I can't get up in “Luckybitch.” And in Nick Hornby's “NippleJesus,” a bruiser finds out that guarding modern art is far more hazardous than controlling the velvet ropes at a nightclub. <b>Speaking with the Angel</b> also includes stories from Roddy Doyle, Irvine Welsh, Colin Firth, John O'Farrell, Robert Harris, Patrick Marber, and Giles Smith.<p> Twelve completely new stories, written by twelve undeniably imaginative voices. <b>Speaking with the Angel</b> is at turns clever, outrageous, witty, edgy, tender, and wicked. This is what they meant by original. </div>